Combination life preserver and antirolling cushion



NOV. 22, 1955 w, SQRRELL 2,724,133

COMBINATION LIFE PRESERVER AND ANTI-ROLLING CUSHION Filed April 7. 1955 flan 610 11 170035.

1,3. A'r'mR Mm COMBINATION LIFE PRESERVER AND ANTI- ROLLING CUSHION Donald W. Sorrel], Southampton, England, assignor to Daniel J. Mulleavey, New York, N. Y.

Application April 7, 1953, Serial No. 347,305

, and anti-rolling cushions for seagoing vessels.

Among the objects of the present invention it is aimed to provide an improved combination life preserver and anti-rolling cushion which consists of two bulging units or bolsters filled with a suitable buoyant material such as capoc and the like, a strip of flexible sheet material connecting the two bolsters and connecting means at the outer ends of the bolsters so that in life preserver use the bolsters could be positioned in the front and rear of the user, and the connecting strip and connecting means positioned below the arm pits of the user when the arms of the user will be free either for swimming, manning an oar, or other activity required in an emergency, and in the anti-rolling use the bolsters will be disposed on a bed to receive the body of the user on the connecting sheet between the bolsters and the connecting means be used to connect the combination to the bed.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a combination of the type aforesaid in association with a bed or berth having eyelets on the sides thereof, the cushion having connecting means consisting of short lengths with snap fasteners at the ends thereof and long lengths with a succession of small eyelets large enough to cooperate with the snap fasteners, but small enough to pass through the eyelets of the berth so that they may be used for cooperating with the snap fasteners when the combination is used as a life preserver, and so that in anti-rolling use the small eyelets in the long lengths may pass through the eyelets on the berth and facilitate tying the long lengths to the eyelets on one side of the berth while the snap fasteners at the ends of the short lengths will be free to cooperate with the eyelets on the other side of the berth securely to anchor the cushion in place so that during rolling of the vessel, particularly in the open sea, the body of the passenger may be effectively anchored against rolling with the movement of the vessel.

It is still further an object of the present invention to provide a combination life preserver and anti-rolling cushion of the type aforesaid which will be substantially fire proof and free from risk to theuser in either cold or hot weather, to which end the covering for the bolsters, the flexible connecting sheet, and the connecting strips will be composed of some suitable inflammable material or composed of canvas or a fabric treated with a fireproof material such aschlorinated parafiin, antimony trichloride, zinc borate or vinyl chloride, the buoyant fillers for the bolsters consist either of air or a slow burning material such as capoc or foam rubber, and the eyelets for the strips and also the hook portions of the snap fasteners be composed of hard vulcanized rubber or of a suitable plastic material such as polyester reenforced glass fibre, or a vinyl chloride such as Geon resin, or even a metal core covered with a plastic material. such as polyester reenforced glass or Geon resin with the tongues for the snap fasteners composed of a slightly yieldable rubber material.

These and other features, capabilities and advantages of the invention will appear from the subjoined detailed description of one specific embodiment thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a perspective of the combination connected to a mattress for use as an anti-rolling cushion.

in Fig. 1.

'ice Fig. 2 is a fragmental perspective showing another side of the mattress and cushion illustrated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective showing the cushion folded up for storage.

Fig. 4 is a perspective showing the cushion in life preserver position.

Fig. 5 is a fragmental exploded view showing the two tape lengths at the ends of the cushion ready to be connected to one another.

In the embodiment shown there is illustrated a mattress, berth or couch member 1 of a seagoing vessel having a plurality of eyelets or rings 2 pivotally connected to each side of the mattress 1, nine in number to a side being shown in the present instance.

The combination life preserver and anti-rolling cushion 3 per se consists essentially of two bulging portions or bolsters 4 and 5, an intervening strip 6 and fastening means at the ends of the bolsters. The fastening means in the present instance consist in part of the short lengths 7 of tape or fabric having at the ends thereof the conventional metal snap hooks 8 pivotally connected to the free ends of the lengths 7 and provided with yieldable locking tongues 9. The short lengths 7 preferably are secured to the lower edge 10 of one side of the cushion 3 as shown From the lower edge 11 of the other side of the cushion 3 there extend the longer lengths 12 of the tape, fabric or the like, having formed therein grommets or eyelets 13 disposed in a row along each length 12 as shown and which eyelets 13 are much smaller than the eyelets or rings 2. As shown in Pig. 1 the snap hooks 8 have as one function to engage the eyelets 2 on one side of the mattress 1. In turn, as shown in Fig. 2, the lengths 12 being longer than the lengths 7, have one function to pass through the eyelets 2 on the other side of the mattress 1 and then have the loops or knots 14 formed in the strips 12 above the eyelets 2 to secure the lengths 12 in place. i

The other function of the snap hooks t3 and the eyelets 13, see Fig. 4, is to enable the hooks 8 to engage the eyelets 13 in the lengths 12 when the cushion 3 is in life preserver position on the body of the passenger or user.

These cushions 3, therefore, have two main functions, one, see Fig. 1, when attached to the mattress 1 to receive the body of the passenger or user between the bolsters 4 and 5 and thus serve as an anti-rolling cushion, and the other function, see Fig. 4, when secured around the body of the passenger or user to serve as a life preserver. In these days of safe travel by sea, the danger of shipwreck is of course rare, but nevertheless extremely important. On the other hand, the problem of effectively overcoming the rolling and pitching of a seagoing vessel still remains unsolved. In turn, many seafarers may not be upset during the day time after arising by the rolling of a seagoing vessel, but they may nevertheless be disturbed at night and deprived of sleep when the body of the retiring person is rolled from side to side of a berth. Furthermore, since with transports for servicemen it is necessary to use the available space to the best advantage, overcrowding is always common and in turn the distress to the servicemen in time of a storm, when .the rolling of the vessel may be violent, most severe. Consequently, the value of this anti-rolling cushion to relieve this distress must be extremely welcome. When, however, consideration is also taken of the fact that in the use of the available space to the greatest advantage, these anti-rolling cushions can also serve as life preservers, and thus make available for other purposes the space otherwise used by these life preservers which conventionally serve no other purpose except in acase of emergency, a real contribution is made by this double function.

These life preservers must of course meet extreme tests such as are encountered in fires, explosions, enemy bombs or torpedoes, when conflagration must be guarded against, and in turn against extreme low temperatures should a shipwreck occur during cold weather. The present combination makes it possible to use as an instance, and to achieve buoyancy, air inflatable walls for the bolsters 4 and 5 or else to use a fabric such as canvas treated with any of the conventional fire proof materials such as chlorinated paraffin, antimony trichloride, zinc borate or vinyl chloride, which fabric consists of a lower shorter main strip 15, an upper longer strip 16 to extend from one end of the strip 15 to form the bulge or bolster 4, then to contact with the strip 15 for a short distance to form the intervening strip 6 and then to form the bulge or bolster 5, and finally engage the other end of the strip 15. The ends of the bulges 4 and 5 are of course closed by suitable side wall strips 17. Excellent results have been achieved when the bulges 4 and 5 are filled with capoc 18 or foam rubber, and the strips 15, 16 and 17 and the lengths 7 and 12 are composed of fireproof canvas as aforesaid, and the grommets 13 and hook portions 18 composed of hard vulcanized rubber or a plastic material such as polyester reenforced' glass fibre, vinyl chloride such as Geon resin, and the tongue 10 composed of a yieldable substance such as a semi-vulcanized rubber strip. Since the eyelets 2 will ordinarily not be used in case of an emergency, they may be composed of a suitable metal if necessary, but they of course may also be composed of the same material as the hooks 8 and grommets 13 as aforesaid.

In life preserver position, as shown in Fig. 4, the strip 6 cooperates with the lengths 7 and 12 to clear the space below the armpits of the wearer, it being immaterial whether the bolster 4 or bolster 5 is in the front or rear of the wearer. In such position the arms of the wearer are free for use in swimming, manning an oar, grasping a ladder or otherwise aiding during the emergency or rescue. Furthermore, due to the fact that the hooks 8 are only on one edge of the cushion, if the vessel in distress happens to be a hospital ship or carrier of the wounded, andsome of the patients should have only one arm available for use, whether it is the left or the right arm is immaterial, since he may with facility slip the cushion around his waist with one arm and then while leaning against one bolster 4 or 5 successively grip the snap hooks 8 with the available hand, and stretch the other bolster 5 or 4 over into position where the snap fasteners will catch into the eyelets 13 of the long lengths 12.

In turn, should it be necessary to attach these cushions in an emergency at extreme low temperatures, instead of gripping metal, the hooks 8 composed of a substance such as hard rubber, plastic material or the like low heat conducting material will protect the hands of the user from IIIJUIY.

In the claims, in the interest of simplicity where the word mattress is used, it will be understood that it is intended to cover not only a mattress, but also a couch, berth, bed or the like.

When the cushion 3 is not in use, furthermore, it may be folded up into the position illustrated in Fig. 3 with the flat strip 15 folded up upon itself, in which case the tape lengths 7 and 12 will be in position at the ends 11 and 10 of the bolsters 4 and 5 to tie the two bolsters 4 and 5 into a compact package in which condition the cushion may be stored away and use up a minimum amount of storage space.

It is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made to the details of construction without departing from the general spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

posed of buoyant material and a plane intervening strip to receive the body of the user between the two bolsters when used as an anti-rolling device, short lengths of tape along the outer edge of one bolster and long lengths of tape along the outer edge of the other bolster, snap hooks at the ends of the short lengths to grip the rings along one side of the mattress, and eyelets smaller than said rings in the long lengths to enable the long lengths to be passed through the rings on the other side of the mattress and tied thereto in turn to receive the snap hooks in life preserver position with the intervening strip and short and long lengths arranged under the armpits of the user in life preserver use to clear the arms of the user, each bolster having a plane lower face in alinement with its intervening strip to conform to the upper face of the mattress in a transverse direction, the length of the cushion from the outer edge of one bolster to the outer edge of the other bolster conforming to the width of the mattress to position the long lengths of tape and the snap hooks for engagement with the rings of the mattress, the lengths of the bolsters and intervening strip conforming substantially to one another, with the upper faces of the bolsters bulging upwardly and flaring away from said intervening strip when in position on said mattress as an anti-rolling cushion, and to enable the cushions to nest into other cushions when stored in the interest of eliminating lost space.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1 in which the covering for the bolsters, the intervening strip and the short and long lengths of tape are composed of a fireproof material, and the hooks and eyelets of the short and long lengths of tape are composed of a low heat conducting material.

3. The combination as set forth in claim 1 in which the fillers of the bolsters are composed of a slow burning 'material, the covering for the bolsters, intervening strip and short and long lengths are composed of canvas treated with a fireproof material such as chlorinated paratlin, antimony trichloride, zinc borate or vinyl chloride, and the hooks and eyelets of the short and long lengths composed of a low heat conducting material such as vulcanized rubber, polyester reenforced glass fibre or vinyl chloride resin.

4. The combination of a plurality of life preserver and anti-rolling cushions with a conventional mattress, each cushion having two bolsters having fillers composed of a buoyant material and an intervening strip to receive the body of the user between the two bolsters when used as an anti-rolling device, lengths of tape along the outer edges of the bolsters to be secured to the mattress when the combination is used as an anti-rolling cushion, the lengths of tape at the ends being connected to one another when the combination encircles the body of a user as a liferpreserver when in turn the intervening strip and the lengths of tape will be arranged under the armpits of the user and space the bolsters from one another to clear the arms of the user for use and bulge outwardly from the body of the user, and which lengths of tape may be tied together when the cushion is to be stored away with the lower faces of the bolsters in engagement with one another.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 8,767 Albl'o Mar. 2, 1852 125,779 Adams Apr. 16, 1872 237,693 Oliver Feb. 15, 1881 2,132,544 Shaw Oct. 11, 1938 2,562,725 Leto et a1. July 31, 1951 2,629,884 McMonagle Mar. 3, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 12,020 Great Britain July 29, 1889 112,632 Australia g Mar. 13, 1941 317,891 Great Britain Aug. 26, 1929 

